Obi Wan Kenobi grabbed Anakin by the arm and pulled him off. But the Padawan spun around, trying for one last look at Padme. She and Cobra walked off, going to whereabouts unknown.

Together.

"Easy, Anakin..." Obi Wan said. "Is something upsetting you?"

"No, Master," Anakin replied uneasily.

"You'll need your rest. The Padawan learners can be a handful. But, I'm sure you would already know that."

Obi Wan smiled and Anakin couldn't resist a chuckle.

"Of course, Master."

Face it. If the marriage is going to work, I'll have to trust her. Why marry me anyway if she's going to run off with someone else? he thought. This would have been Obi-Wan Kenobi's answer... the way he might have answered if he could talk to him. Funny, how he could predict his Master's words. So ingrained was Obi Wan's teachings that his words often flew out of Anakin's mouth...on more than one ocassion. And frequently, did they creep into his thoughts when he was troubled, making him calm again.

But then, there was sometimes the malevolent reply, which often came from a cavern deep within his soul:

Maybe, this someone would have more time to spend with Padme. Maybe, because this someone shared her rank, could marry her and celebrate their love openly. Maybe because she wouldn't have to live a lie... he could give her more than you ever could.

ANAKIN SHOOK.

After another restless night without Padme, a night of twisting and turning and wishing his hands were upon her soft fragrant skin... he went to the Jedi Temple training room to meet his Padawan students.

Master! They would call him Master! Anakin couldn't help but smile.

With a wave of his hand he moved the sliding door aside and walked into the training room. He looked around. Before him was a group of restless two and three year old children. Some slept, some ran in circles, some were curled into a ball, crying. Some were drooling.

He stood there, mouth agape... This is my class? Somehow he had expected a group of well disciplined 10 year olds, or maybe, if he were lucky, a group of 13-15 year olds standing like army of men, lightsabers already drawn.

He quietly waited for the children to notice him. Seeing an older Jedi, would absolutely prompt them to attention. Obi Wan was on his way. In his quiet meditation, Anakin could feel him.

Obi Wan entered seconds later and placed a comforting hand on Anakin's shoulder.

"When you said 'work with other Padawans', I didnt' know you meant for me to babysit."

Obi-Wan laughed in his genteel way, creases crinkling the corner of his eyes.

"We've all had to do it, Anakin. It's a right of passage."

Still, Anakin didn't appreciate being tricked, even though he could see the humor in it.

"I remember... shortly after Qui Gon died, just before I was knighted, Master Yoda ordered me to his chambers and gave me the assignment of 'training' the Padawan learners."

"I remember that."

"Yes, you were among them. The oldest in class, as a matter of fact."

"Now I understand why you had that look on your face."

"Seeing the children was quite a shock. After all, I had only destroyed a Sith Lord. I fully expected an older class."

"Tell me something, Master. Did you use the dark side?"

"The dark side?"

"To defeat Darth Maul? Is that how you beat him?"

"I may be a Jedi, Anakin... but I'm still human."

"Because you loved Master Qui Gonn?"

It was an open wound, even eleven years later. Obi-Wan simply smiled. Qui Gon was the closest he had ever come to having a father.

"The point, Anakin, is that, while I was surprised to have the children there, and little disappointed, I was happy to see you. It was their way of saying they had accepted my decision to train you. And that made me happier than you can ever imagine."

"I'm to look at the bigger picture then? That this gesture, by the council was their way of accepting me? To show me that I am soon to become a Jedi Knight?"

Obi Wan squeezed Anakin's muscular shoulder, causing his mechanical hand to spring open. The children laughed.

"I suppose I should interpret this as a sign that they're paying attention."

"Indeed it is," Obi-Wan replied, seeming to answer both of Anakin's questions at once.

A few toys laid scattered about the floor. Silver colored plastic balls, Jedi action figures, toy light sabers...

Anakin raised a hand and the toys seemed to come to life, rising from its place on the floor to float mid-air.

"Good morning class, I'm Master Skywalker, and this is Master Kenobi."

In unison, the children replied:

"Good morning, Master Skywalker. Good morning Master Kenobi..."

"Everyone one of you are to pick an object from the air... pluck it really, and balance it in your hand."

The children, one by one began to pluck the floating objects from the air and hold them outward in their tiny palms. Even the children who were crying, probably new to the temple had wiped their tears away, in awe of Anakin's trick, to participate.

"I will be teaching you, not only what the Force means... but how to use it. I'm sure, some of you know already, which is why you are here."